Ashland Ice Rink Vandalized

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ASHLAND (CBS) — The new ice rink in downtown Ashland has been vandalized, and police are looking for the people who did it.

There was a grand opening party planned for the rink Saturday night, but Saturday morning town leaders found the damage.

“We were trying to do a good thing for the kids in town and a couple bad people ruined it,” said John Fetherston, the chairman of the Board of Selectmen.

Sgt. Greg Fawkes of the Ashland Police Department said they discovered Saturday morning someone had done “a fair amount of damage.” The foam padding on the boards was ripped off, snow had been thrown on the ice, the ice was broken, and he said it appears the vandals tried to remove the flag that was frozen into the ice.

“It’s really unfortunate someone would do this,” he said.

WBZ-TV’s Jim Smith reports.

Young Emily Wenzell says she and her friends were looking forward to using the rink, and she’s upset by what happened.

“They had a great idea to do this, and now I feel like my friends and I can’t do this stuff,” she said.

The rink was the vision of the Ashland Coalition for Teens, which has been looking for activities for teens, explained Bill Gath, chairman of the Ashland Day Committee.

He said Saturday’s event will be rescheduled, and the rink will be open for February school vacation week.

“You can’t be discouraged. There are rotten apples in every barrel. Whether it’s adults or kids. You got to put up with the bad as well as the good,” he said.

Sgt. Fawkes said the people responsible for the vandalism could face felony charges. He urges anyone who may have information about it to come forward.